1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an electrical connector, and particularly to an electrical connector mounted on a printed circuit board.
2. Description of Related Arts
Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (Serial ATA) connectors provide a storage interface for ATAPI (Advanced Technology Attachment Packet Interface) devices and hard disk drives, which are main storage peripheral devices of computer systems. Conventionally, a Serial ATA connector comprises an insulating housing and a plurality of terminals received in the housing. Such Serial ATA connectors can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,402,552 and Taiwan Patent Issue Nos. 493301, 493804, and 509393. Generally, the insulative housing of the Serial ATA connector includes a main portion, a mating portion extending from the main portion and receiving the terminals, and one side arm extending from one lateral side of the main portion. The side arm defines an inner groove for guiding insertion of a complementary mating connector. A space is defined between a lateral edge of the mating portion and the adjacent side arm. However, such conventional Serial ATA connectors usually suffer from a breakage over a period of use, under repeated insertion, and withdrawal of a mated cable connector, which will adversely influence the signal transmission. Specifically, the housing will be easily broken along a vertical line on the side arm where the side arm connects to the main portion when the complementary connector is pulled in a right-and-left direction repeatedly. Similarly, the housing will be also easily broken along a horizontal line on the side arm where the side arm connects to the main portion and on the mating portion where the mating portion connects to the main portion when the complementary mating connector is pulled up and down repeatedly. Particularly, when it is required to have a pair of such connectors stacked together, the breakage of the housing will become relatively serious.
Hence, it is desirable to enhance the structural stability of Serial ATA connectors to ensure the signal transmission quality.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a Serial ATA connector having an enhanced housing structure for improving the rigidity of the connector and improving overall connector integrity.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a Serial ATA connector in accordance with the present invention includes an insulative housing, a number of terminals received in the housing, a spacer organizing the terminals, and a pair of board locks secured to the housing. The housing includes a pair of side walls, a partition wall horizontally extending between the two side walls, and a middle wall extending vertically to the partition wall and connecting the two side walls. The housing defines a first cavity, a second cavity and a mating face, and comprises a first mating tongue in the first cavity extending from the middle wall toward the mating face and a second mating tongue in the second cavity extending from the middle wall toward the mating face. The two side walls each comprise a flange projecting therefrom and extending toward each other above the first mating tongue. The terminals are respectively disposed in the first and the second mating tongues to electrically engage complementary mating connectors.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.